Talking Price and Location

I have been looking for input from people lately about what goes into their decisions about where to live.  Obviously there are some regular items that need considering: number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage space, yard, floor plan, kitchen arrangement, schools, and so forth.  Price is definitely a big consideration for people.  And the farther from the center of town (in my case Olympia) the more affordable things become.  But with the price of gas consistently rising (will it over go down again?) I think we have to start factoring commute time into our purchasing decisions.

This came up recently with one of my buyers: The lender they are using qualified them for more than they wanted to spend on a monthly payment.  Adjusting the loan amount down put them into a slightly lower price point for what they can purchase.  Given that desired purchase price, homes in Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater don't quite make the square footage/yard size they want.  So we have now chosen to look at homes outside of town (the Yelm and Steamboat Island area), which is a good 20-30 minute drive from where they work.

I haven't done the math on this, but consider: for every $1000 increase in loan amount at 6%, you are adding $6.00 to your monthly payment.  If you purchased a home for 10K more than you wanted to spend you would have an additional monthly payment of $60.00.

Now, I don't know what you are spending on your gas each month, but mine is now in the hundreds a month.  And the price of gas has risen faster than many people's adjustable rate mortgages, so I ask you: considering the type of car you drive and the extra mileage you would be putting on (never minding wear-and-tear) for commuting to work, and maybe stores, the doctor, etc., is it time to start factoring gas into our desicion as to how much we are willing to pay for a home?